Communication styles embedded in the bilingual e-messages of corporate leaders in greater China

Abstract

The significance of leader-stakeholder communication to the competitiveness of corporations in the Greater China region has been recognized. This chapter outlines key aspects of our research into corporate leader electronic messages (e-messages) posted on the websites of major corporations in Greater China to identify the preferred language modes, translation strategies, as well as the communication styles embedded in these e-messages. The findings are that e-messages are increasingly used by corporate leaders to communicate with their stakeholders worldwide although monolingual Chinese messages predominate. On analyzing the nonliterally translated Chinese messages into English, it is revealed that the bilingual representation strategy was usually adopted, and the authors argue that the bilingual e-messages reflect the different communication styles of corporate leaders with their English-speaking versus Chinese-speaking stakeholders, underpinned by leaders’ cultural values. Our research offers explanations for these findings and the implications for corporations.